


Cut & Run: The Remix (A Black Pearl AU)

by amirosebooks



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Blow Jobs, Fluff, M/M, Non-Canon Relationship, Power Dynamics, Public Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-10 09:56:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amirosebooks/pseuds/amirosebooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Nick and Ty came out to each other years before Ty and Zane met? What if Nick and Ty came out to everyone years earlier? What if Ty’s time in Nola was significantly shorter? What if Becky was an addict, instead of Zane, and died from an overdose? What if Zane never worked in Miami? What if Zane met Nick before he met Ty? What if Elias was sick the day he was supposed to begin working the Tri-State case, and Sears and Ross died instead of he and his partner? What if Ty and Zane still worked the Tri-State case, but with Elias and his partner as their FBI shadows? What if the bombings and car chase in the Tri-State case didn’t happen? What if Kelly realized his attraction to Nick years before and did something about it?<br/>What if?<br/>Everyone eventually ends up paired properly in this fic, but if you are not a fan of non-canon pairings--that I tried my best to do tastefully and respectfully--please do not read this one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Boston - June 2004_

 

Ty parked the Bronco in a space overlooking the Boston Harbor docks where Nick kept his boat. He hadn't told Nick he was coming to town. The last job he'd done for Burns had left him on edge in a way that made him seek out contact with someone who could get his mind back on track again. He knew Nick wouldn't mind the intrusion. 

He usually went to Deuce when the world stacked up too high around him. Ty hated putting Deuce in that position, though. It wasn’t fair to force him to pick up the broken pieces of Ty’s psyche every few months.

After locking up the Bronco and making sure no one in the parking lot was eyeing her suspiciously, Ty made his way down to the docks. 

Nick's boat was docked at the far end, and as Ty got closer he was able to make out two people standing on the deck. The man next to Nick was a little shorter than him, with dark hair and a muscular build. He was dressed in a pair of knee-length swim shorts and stood shoulder to shoulder with Nick. 

Nick was wearing a pair of low-slung jeans, his torso bare, showing off his freckled shoulders and light tan. Nick was laughing and seemed relaxed. The man turned to face Nick and it almost looked like he rested his hand on Nick's hip. The sight threw Ty off a bit, but he attributed it to his scattered state of mind. Until he saw Nick lift a hand to cup the man's jaw and lean in for a kiss.

Ty's breath caught in his chest.

He must have made a noise, because the two men split apart suddenly and looked at him. Nick's face drained of color, his green eyes wide. 

"Ty?" Nick's asked hesitantly.

"Guess I should have called first," Ty said with a wave of his hand at the two men. "I was close by for a case and thought I'd drop in. I didn't mean to interrupt."

Nick's mouth opened and closed a few times like he was struggling to find the words to reply. 

The man looked from Nick to Ty and back again. Ty was close enough to the boat now that when the man leaned in to talk to Nick, he could hear what was said. 

"Hey, this was fun, but I need to head home anyway. You two look like you have a lot to talk about."

Nick nodded silently and gave the man an apologetic look. He smiled and patted Nick on the shoulder. 

Nick waved Ty onto the boat while the man tossed a T-shirt over one shoulder and slipped his feet into a pair of flip-flops. He waved awkwardly at Nick and Ty before sauntering down the dock toward his car.

Once he'd left, Ty followed Nick inside. "I think this calls for beer, don't you?" Nick said sarcastically as he opened the fridge door and pulled out two bottles.

Ty nodded solemnly and thanked Nick quietly as he accepted a bottle and followed Nick out of the kitchen. They sat in silence, Ty on the couch and Nick in a chair next to it, for a moment. Silence stretched heavily as they took long pulls from their bottles, neither one looked the other in the eye.

Ty cleared his throat and nodded toward the area of the deck where he'd seen them kissing. "So, you like guys?"

Nick's jaw muscle ticked when he looked at Ty. "Yeah, I swing both ways."

Ty nodded and shifted in his seat. He wasn't really sure what to say to that. Or how much of himself he should reveal in a situation like this. It certainly wasn't helping him come back from the edge of a nervous breakdown, like he'd hoped when he set out to visit Nick. 

He took another sip of beer and rolled the bottle back and forth in his hands.

"Is that a problem?" Nick asked, his voice held a dangerous lilt.

"No, I just wish I'd known sooner," Ty said cautiously. "Would have made finding someone to share a bed with on those long, lonely nights back in Recon a little easier."

Nick inhaled sharply. "What are you saying?"

"You're not the only one who likes cock, O," Ty said with a nervous, self-deprecating smile.

Nick stared at him, eyes wide. Ty swallowed hard and tried not to second-guess outing himself. It was entirely possible he’d just made a huge mistake.

"You're serious. You're attracted to men?"

Ty nodded and finished off his beer.

"I had no idea. I'd hoped, but I never thought you went that way," Nick said quietly. 

He seemed to want to say more, but shook his head and wiped at his mouth. His eyes flicked back to Ty nervously. 

"We need more beer," Nick said before he retreated to the kitchen. 

Ty's head fell back against the couch. He couldn't believe his best friend of more than ten years had hidden the same secret he'd been hiding since his teens. _Some profiler I turned out to be_ , he thought bitterly.

"Is it serious between you two?" Ty called out to Nick in the kitchen.

Nick shot him a quick, confused look from where he stood in front of the fridge. "Is what serious with who?"

Ty flailed his arms at the area where he'd seen Nick and the man kissing. "That guy, is he your boyfriend or something? Did you not trust us enough to tell us about someone you're serious with?" His voice cracked and he looked away.

Nick let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Uh, no, it’s not serious. To be honest I didn't even catch his name."

A loud laugh escaped Ty's lips. Nick met it with a half-smile that sent a shiver of heat over Ty’s skin. 

Ty thought about his previous relationships. How they'd each ended in blood, tears, and the sting of betrayal. The one exception was with his first boyfriend, David, but that was likely because Ty had distanced himself and given him permission to find someone else to love while Ty was deployed. 

His shoulder still twinged on occasion from when Liam had shot him. And though Ty had never loved him back, there was still a guilt-ridden ache in his chest when he thought about Chas Turner. His latest relationship had ended when Ty found proof that the woman he'd been dating during an undercover operation in New Orleans was actually involved in her father's nefarious exploits. When they'd moved in to arrest her, she'd managed to stab Ty in the stomach, and he'd spent a few days in the hospital.

As far as he was concerned, if he never had another serious relationship again, he'd be happy. 

Ty snorted softly to himself. Who was he kidding? There was a huge, sappy, romantic part of him that wanted to find someone to call his own. He just didn't believe that he'd find the person or that he even deserved that kind of happy ending. 

Nick returned, taking a seat next to Ty on the couch and passing him a new bottle. He looked at Ty for a moment. The air was heavy between them with words unspoken, and Ty could tell there was some sort of confession Nick was working himself up to making. 

"What about you, is there anyone serious in your life?" Nick asked.

"Barmaids don't really count as serious, do they?" Ty asked with a chuckle before he schooled his features. "No, I don't have anyone in my life. Not sure I ever will, to be perfectly honest."

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Nick said with a sad smile. He kicked his feet up on the coffee table and stretched back against the couch.

Ty swallowed heavily and his heartbeat kicked up its rhythm as he took in the sight of Nick’s hard stomach and half smile. He’d never really looked at Nick this way before, but he was definitely looking now.

"You weren't just close by on a case, were you?" Nick asked suddenly.

Ty blinked at him in confusion for a moment before remembering why he'd come. 

"It's sort of true. I _was_ nearby on a case, but I came here because I'm..." Ty waved his hands absently, trying to piece together the correct words. "Struggling, I guess. It's been a rough few weeks."

"Stay here for a few days. I have the time off. We can sail out somewhere and just let the world move by us for a while until you get your head on straight," Nick suggested as he rested one hand on Ty's shoulder.

"Thanks, Irish."

"Go fetch your bags and make the necessary phone calls. I'll make sure the boat's ready, and we can head out in the morning."

Ty smiled at him and nodded in agreement. A few days at sea sounded like just what he needed.

 

* * *

 

 

By mid-afternoon the next day, Nick had sailed them out into the ocean and dropped anchor. 

Nick was still shocked and more than a little nervous about the fact that he and Ty had inadvertently outed themselves to each other the evening before. He had honestly never thought Ty was interested in men until then. There had been many sleepless nights where Nick had found himself pining for the man. Some nights he almost had himself convinced that, one day, Ty would return his affections, but his heart had never fully believed it.

He made his way to the front of the boat where Ty was sprawled on a deck chair in a pair of shorts. Ty's eyes were closed, but Nick knew he was aware of his presence. Still, he allowed himself to take in the sight of the taut muscles that made up Ty's stomach and chest. 

Ty had been tense and frustrated all morning, and—for reasons unknown to Nick—Ty’s being in such a mood made him stomp around Nick’s boat wearing next to nothing. Which had left Nick frustrated in an entirely different way. Nick swallowed heavily at the pulse of heat that sped through his veins while looking at his friend. He reminded himself that Ty’s apparent attraction to men didn’t mean he was attracted to _Nick_.

He collapsed onto the deck chair to Ty's right.

Ty's lips quirked and his head tilted in Nick's direction, pinning him down with piercing, hazel eyes.

"Enjoy the show, Irish?"

Nick bit his lip and felt his face heat. "Sorry about that."

Ty shook his head. "Nothing to be sorry about."

Nick met Ty's eyes and they stared at each other in silence. Nick's pulse hammered in his ears.

"What are you saying?" Nick asked hesitantly.

Ty shifted his gaze out onto the water and licked his lips. "It's been a while for me, but I could use the stress relief," he admitted quietly before meeting Nick's gaze once again.

"Are you saying you want to fuck me?"

Ty nodded.

Nick stared at him for a long moment. There were bags under his eyes and Nick could almost see him vibrating with unknown tension. He remembered how Ty got like this on occasion, stretched too thin and restless in a more intense way than normal. Ty had a habit of running himself too hard for too long. It gave him the appearance of being unflappable and almost invincible, but Nick knew him well enough to see through the façade.

"Come here." Nick motioned Ty over to his lap. Ty blinked at him, seemingly dumbfounded for a moment. He slowly slid off his chair and made his way over to Nick. 

Ty’s gaze flicked around like he was contemplating a last minute retreat. Nick made sure he looked as calm and non-threatening as possible. He wanted to help ease Ty’s tension, not make it worse.

When Ty finally reached Nick's side, Nick wrapped his fingers around one of Ty's wrists and tugged him gently onto his lap. Ty tensed under Nick's fingers briefly. Once he was settled, Nick released his hold on Ty's wrist and clutched at Ty's hipbones, pulling him closer. Ty groaned softly when Nick pulled him until their hardening erections brushed against each other. 

Ty watched him with wide eyes. 

Nick bit his lip to prevent himself from making any unwanted confessions. There would be time for those later. He licked his lips and held Ty's gaze. 

"We can stop anytime, just say the word. We won't do anything you don't want to do."

"I don't want to have to think right now,” Ty said in a rough voice. “I need you to help me keep from falling apart, Nick."

Nick swallowed. "Kiss me and I'll do everything I can to hold you together."

Ty leaned forward, one hand pressed against Nick's chest to brace himself. Nick lost himself in Ty’s green-gold eyes and shivered as Ty’s breath caressed his cheek.

Ty kissed Nick tentatively at first. His lips barely brushing against Nick's. When his tongue traced Nick's bottom lip neither of them could hold back their moans. Nick let go of Ty's hips in favor of wrapping around his arms around Ty’s waist. Ty's hands moved from Nick's chest into his hair as the kiss grew more intense.

Nick's fingers teased the skin along Ty's waistband. He pulled the shorts down enough to work a hand inside and palmed Ty's ass while nipping at Ty’s bottom lip. 

Ty growled against Nick’s lips. He sat up suddenly and yanked Nick out of the chair. 

"Let's go below deck. I don't need my ass getting sunburned out here again."

Nick laughed. "That wasn't my fault. I had no idea you’d choose to be a nudist in the mid-day sun after you drank that much."

"Shut up," Ty grunted.

As soon as they were below deck Ty had Nick pinned against the wall. Before Nick could react, Ty pounced on him with a devouring kiss that made Nick’s toes curl. His fingers dug into Ty’s hipbones as he melted into the kiss. 

With each slide of their lips against each other, their bodies moved closer together. Every swipe of their tongues was met with clutching fingers digging into hard muscles. Moans and whimpers brought out rocking hips and aching erections.

Nick would never look at this wall the same way again.

He hooked an ankle behind one of Ty’s and pushed his chest, toppling them both to the floor.

“Jackass. What the hell are you doing knocking me onto the floor?” Ty grunted.

Nick pushed up on his hands and looked down at Ty with a grin. “I don’t know, Grady. You seem to enjoy it when I manhandle you.” Nick rolled his hips into Ty’s, bringing attention to the fact that Ty was fully hard. Ty’s cheeks flushed and he looked away.

“Well, are you going to do something about it, or are you planning to talk me to death?” Ty groaned.

Instead of answering, Nick nipped at Ty’s collarbone and rolled his hips again. Ty’s back arched underneath him. Nick dove into another kiss while he trailed heavy fingertips down Ty’s chest. He palmed Ty’s cock through his shorts. Ty whimpered against Nick’s mouth, sending a shiver down Nick’s spine.

Nick broke the kiss. 

Ty growled and tried to pull Nick back toward his mouth, but Nick swatted his hands away. With a flick of his fingers he loosened Ty’s shorts enough to work a hand inside. He gripped Ty’s cock at the same time he began kissing and biting his way down Ty’s chest. Ty groaned, cursed, and arched beneath him. 

“Fuck, Nick,” Ty moaned.

“That is the idea, Ty.” 

Nick laughed against the sensitive skin of Ty’s stomach, the sensation caused Ty to gasp sharply. 

Nick tugged Ty’s shorts and briefs down to his knees, letting Ty kick them off the rest of the way. Nick stretched out on his stomach between Ty’s legs. Ty hissed as Nick dragged his stubbled cheek along his hip.

Ty worked his fingers into Nick’s hair and tried to pull Nick toward his cock. Nick chuckled and licked the tip.

“Getting greedy, huh?” Nick asked.

“If you don’t get on with it I’m going to kick your ass.” Ty growled.

Nick didn’t answer. He wrapped his lips around the head of Ty’s cock and sank down, taking him all the way to the back of his throat. Ty cried out and grabbed a handful of Nick’s hair as he arched upward into Nick’s mouth.

There was no telling how many times Nick had imagined having Ty spread out and writhing underneath him like this over the years. 

Almost from the moment they’d met, Nick had watched Ty with his heart in his throat. At first Nick had been mildly obsessed with Ty’s body, but it quickly grew into an appreciation for the man’s sense of humor and personality. A few times he’d almost managed to convince himself that Ty liked men enough for Nick to take a chance. But it had never been worth the risk to their friendship. Until Ty had asked Nick to help him keep from falling apart.

Nick was startled out of his thoughts when Ty yanked Nick off his cock by his hair.

“Yeah, yeah, O. I’m really impressed with your ‘I can suck cock like a high-dollar whore on autopilot’ skills, but I ain’t asking to be handled with kid gloves right now,” Ty growled. He stood, yanking Nick up and dragging him toward the bedroom. “If I wanted a distracted prostitute blowjob right now, I would have paid for it.” 

Ty shoved Nick against the wall just outside the bedroom door and stepped in close. His green-gold eyes sparkled with barely restrained Ty-rage. His breath skittered across Nick’s skin, making him gasp.

“What I want is for you to give me all of your attention, O. Take me apart. Make me beg for it. I know you’re filthy and I want a piece of it.” Ty whispered against Nick’s lips before claiming them in a heated kiss. 

Ty broke the kiss off suddenly and gave Nick a mischievous half smile before dropping to his knees with an audible thud. He worked Nick’s jeans open and down his legs, and Nick kicked them off. He grinned down at Ty with raised eyebrows.

“Now, let me show you how a blowjob is supposed to work when money isn’t changing hands.” 

Nick moaned as Ty dove mouth first onto his cock. Nick grabbed a handful of Ty’s hair and thrust his hips forward.

“Oh, I’m the wh—oh, fuck,” Nick moaned as Ty swallowed around his cock.

Ty pulled off with an audible pop. “You were saying?”

“I was saying shut up and keep sucking my dick,” Nick growled. 

He winked at Ty before grabbing the back of Ty’s head with both hands and thrusting back into his mouth forcibly. Ty’s eyelids fluttered and he moaned pleasantly around Nick’s cock.

Ty melted under Nick’s hands as Nick fucked his mouth. Heavy-lidded green-gold eyes stared up at him. Nick had to bite his lip to keep from cumming at the sight of Ty on his knees, eager and pliant for him.

He pushed deep into Ty’s mouth one more time and held the position for a few heartbeats. He wanted to remember the sensation of being buried balls deep in Ty’s mouth.

With a shudder, he gently pulled Ty off his cock. Ty whimpered and tried to chase after it with his swollen, fucked-out lips. 

“Come here,” Nick said with a rough voice.

He helped Ty to his feet and claimed his mouth again. The kiss was warm. All dragging lips and soft sounds. Nick moaned as he tasted a hint of himself on Ty’s tongue. Fuck, they needed to move this to the bedroom now or Ty would end up getting nailed against a wall.

Nick spun them around as he chased Ty’s tongue with his own. When they reached the bedroom, Ty wasted no time climbing on the bed, face in the pillows and his ass in the air. Nick sucked in a breath at the sight and tried to slow his thundering pulse.

"Hurry up, Irish," Ty growled.

Nick dug out condoms and a bottle of lube from his bedside table and tossed them on the bed beside Ty's writhing body. He smoothed a hand down Ty's spine while he climbed on the bed. Ty groaned into the pillows. Nick lubed up a couple of fingers and began working them one at a time into Ty.

"What part of hurry up didn't you hear? Fuck," Ty growled.

"I knew you’d be a pushy bottom."

"Fuck you."

Nick hummed briefly before pulling his fingers out. "No, I think I'd rather fuck you." 

He rolled on a condom, swiped on some lube and lined his cock up against Ty.

"Final check. Are you sure we want to do this, Ty?" Nick asked.

"Fuck me, damnit."

Nick hissed and pushed forward, sinking into Ty's warmth. He looked down briefly before snapping his gaze to the wall behind the bed. He couldn't watch himself thrusting into Ty without losing control too quickly.

He pulled out slowly and slammed his hips forward. Ty grunted happily. His hands clutched at the bedding underneath him as he writhed back against Nick's thrusts.

Nick leaned forward and pinned Ty's wrists to the bed. Ty immediately stiffened under him and started struggling to pull away. Nick let go of his wrists and quickly apologized.

He sat back up and placed one hand on Ty’s shoulder, the other on his hip, gripping him tightly. He used those anchor points to thrust into Ty harder, each time pulling a pleasured gasp or shout from Ty's lips.

“Oh fuck, —I’m close." Nick gasped. "Touch yourself, Ty. Cum for me.”

"Give it to me, Irish, and I'll shoot all over your bed."

Nick was too far gone to reply. With a few more stuttered thrusts his orgasm overwhelmed him, and he threw his head back as he came. Ty's body tensed around his, and a moment later he was shouting as he found his own release.

Nick pulled out carefully and tossed the condom into the trash while Ty used a discarded T-shirt to clean up with. They both collapsed on the bed, avoiding the wet spot, and tried to catch their breath.

"Well, that was different," Ty said eventually.

"Different as in it was us, or different as in what we did?"

Ty snorted. "That it was us."

"Yeah, that was new."

They were quiet for a few more minutes before Ty spoke again. "You would think it would be different between us. I mean, we've known each other for over ten years and the sex was amazing, but..."

"I know what you mean," Nick said, almost sadly. He'd been hesitant to admit the same thing since they'd kissed above deck. "It was good sex, but it wasn't anything more than that. Was it?"

Ty met Nick’s eyes and shook his head. "I kind of wish there was more."

Nick smiled sadly. "Do you still feel scattered?"

"No.” Ty shook his head. “This helped. I think another day of just relaxing will help even more."

"Then that's what we'll do.” Nick hesitated before continuing. “But I think we'll leave this as a one-time thing."

Ty nodded. "The last thing I want is to have you as a fuck buddy or a bitter ex. I don't think I could handle that."

"Me either. But at least this answered some questions I'd had for a long time."

Ty was quiet for a moment. He stared intently at Nick, who had to force himself not to squirm under the scrutiny.

Ty cleared his throat. "Are you happy with the answers you got?"

"Not really, but I'll get there. Like you said, I'd rather have you as my best friend than an ex or someone I fuck whenever we're in the same city."

Ty nodded again and forced a smile.

“Do you think you’ll ever fall in love and settle down?” Ty asked after a few more minutes of silence.

“Honestly? I’m not sure relationships are really my thing. I can’t picture myself doing the whole wife, kids, and mortgage thing.” Nick shook his head. “What about you? Are you hunting for that special someone to wake up to in the morning?”

Ty’s eyes turned glassy and he blinked heavily. Nick regretted asking the question almost immediately.

“When I was younger, before the Marines, I always thought I would have a marriage like my parents do. Bickering, teasing, and a lot of visible-from-the-outside love. You know?” Ty grunted sadly. “The older I get the more I’m convinced it won’t happen.”

“I’m sure there’s someone out there infuriating enough to deal with your shit day in and day out,” Nick said in a teasing voice.

“Do you think people like us deserve it? Do we deserve to have someone love us like that?” Ty asked quietly.

“Fuck yes, we do. After everything we both went through? Even if we don’t deserve that kind of love. I know if either of us ever finds it, we’ll do whatever the hell it takes to hold onto it,” Nick said angrily.

“That’s true.”

“My luck, love will sneak up on me in the form of someone crazy who will want to cling to me like a koala. And for some stupid reason I’ll like it,” Nick grumbled.

Ty laughed loudly until he was gasping for breath.

Ty wiped his eyes. “Sorry, man. But that mental image just made me feel a whole hell of a lot better.”

“Asshole,” Nick said as he shoved Ty’s shoulder.

“Hey, Nick?”

“Yeah?”

Ty licked his lips and continued in a hesitant voice. “If I do meet someone in the future, someone I’m serious about. Will you check them out, make sure they’re not crazy or evil?”

Nick snorted. “Whoever you end up getting serious with will be crazy, Ty. That’s not even a question. But, yeah, I’ll make sure they’re not evil.”

Ty was quiet for a moment. His eyes were unfocused like he was lost in memories. He shook his head eventually and smiled at Nick. “Thanks, man.”

 "Sleep, Grady. You can get back to conquering the world in the morning."

Ty snorted before burrowing under one of the pillows. Nick laughed quietly and stretched out next to him.

It turned out that even though he'd been in love with Ty for over ten years, there just wasn't enough chemistry between them for a romantic relationship to make sense. The realization hurt, but Nick felt oddly relieved at the same time. Maybe life would get a little bit easier now without that particular 'what if' hanging over his head.


	2. Chapter 2

_Washington D.C. - December 2007_

 

Zane had been in D.C., preparing for an undercover operation with a Miami cartel, when Annie called with the news. He still wished her death had been even a remote surprise to him, but it wasn't. They'd all been on death-watch for over a year by that point.

It started with drinking in college. Drinking that never really slowed down. He often wondered if there was something he could have done to keep it from escalating like it had. From binge drinking at parties on the weekends, to miniature bottles of vodka in her purse. Once she'd reached the point of hiding bottles in cupboards, closets, utility sheds, and even the attic, Zane had already begun to mourn the loss of the vibrant woman he fell in love with.

The intervention with their loved ones and her subsequent stint in rehab gave everyone hope. 

For a time.

Part of him blamed his job, how it kept him away from home when he was needed the most. But that wasn't the whole truth. There was a larger part of him that was ashamed, both of himself for not being able to do more to help, and of Becky for falling victim to her demons.

When she returned from rehab, it was like she'd come back from the dead. She laughed, they loved; she started working with the Texas charities close to her heart again. It was like a miracle, and Zane quickly found himself falling in love with his wife all over again.

They were happy for about five months. 

Zane went undercover for seven months after that, convinced that they'd gotten past the darkest of times.

When he returned home to Texas, Annie pulled him aside to tell him about the return of the vodka bottles in Becky's purse and the pills she took when she thought no one was looking.

There was another intervention. Another trip to rehab, which was cut short when Becky decided she didn't need treatment and demanded to leave. Since it wasn't court ordered that she be there, they’d let her walk out the front door.

They’d fought.

Zane had begged, on his knees, tears streaming down his face.

She'd promised.

She started hiding the bottles and pills better. 

Eventually, Zane accepted the undercover assignment in Miami just to be able to escape. He wanted some kind of revenge on the monsters that preyed on people like Becky.

Annie was the one who’d found her. She'd overdosed in their bed, her everyday mixture of pills to wake up, to go to sleep, and alcohol proved to be too much for her system.

Zane shook his head and swiped at the tears on his face. He willed himself to move on from the painful memories. 

He looked down at his left hand; it had been three years since her death, and he still hadn’t taken off the gold wedding band. It was a symbol of their love and his immense guilt over her death. He wiped the scuffed metal with his thumb and swallowed hard.

After her death he’d declined the undercover job in Miami. While he yearned for revenge, he honestly hadn’t trusted himself to stay under control in that situation. He’d taken the slap-in-the-face promotion to Cyber Crimes gladly and started seeing the department psychiatrist.

Now, he was sitting in the middle of a box-filled apartment, packing away the last three years of his life. In the morning he would start the move to the Providence, Rhode Island FBI office. He was moving back to the violent crimes division; the knowledge gave him a rush. As much as his analytical mind was well-suited for work in Cyber Crimes, he preferred looking for puzzles and patterns in the world of flesh and blood.

With a sigh, he pulled off the gold wedding band and slipped it into the jewelry box he’d gotten as a gift from his grandfather years before. It held cufflinks, watches, and various odds and ends he’d collected over the years. His heart twisted at the sight of his ring sitting in the box, but it was also as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Goodbye, sweetheart. I’ll always love you, but it’s time for me to move on,” Zane said in a rough voice.

He slipped the jewelry box into a box labeled “Bedroom.” A few moments later the box was taped up and added to the stack in his living room.


	3. Chapter 3

_Boston - March 2008_

 

Zane worked through the throng of writhing bodies in the dark club. The bass-line beat through his bloodstream, like a massage from the inside out. He rolled his hips in rhythm. With a final sip, he finished off the rum in his hand and left the glass on a table as he danced past.

Zane normally worked in Providence, Rhode Island, but he’d been in Boston working a case for the last two weeks, and it’d been hell every day. The detectives working for Boston PD were infuriating, at best. Then there was his temporary partner, Elliot Williams, who was a stickler for rules and had no sense of humor whatsoever. He was like every negative cliché relating to a federal agent rolled up into one person. 

Zane had been like that when he was younger and anxious to work his way up the ranks. But after losing his wife to her addictions, he’d decided to make an effort to enjoy life. 

One of his favorite ways to do that was to go dancing in a club full of strangers for a few hours and drink just enough to leave his body buzzing, but not enough to lose himself. The better nights were the ones when he ended up between someone’s bedsheets or a backroom. The nights he spent hours figuring out how to merge his body with a strangers. That was the kind of stress relief he needed tonight.

He spotted a small, dark haired man dancing in the crowd. His lithe body twisted and snapped seductively. Zane moved closer and the dancing man turned to dance against Zane’s body, his back pressed against Zane’s chest. 

Theirs hips moved in sync. Left then right. One hip forward, down and back again. 

The man held one of Zane’s hands against his left hip. The fingers of his other hand threaded in Zane’s hair.

When the song changed, the man twisted in Zane’s arms and looked up into his eyes. His lips quirked impishly and he wrapped his hands around the back of Zane’s neck.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Zane asked.

“It’ll cost you, sweet cheeks.”

“Fine with me.”

His gaze flicked over Zane’s shoulder, the smile on his face melting away. He shrugged out of Zane's grip and took a step back, eyes wide. 

Zane frowned in confusion. 

Before Zane could ask what had happened, an arm wrapped around Zane’s shoulders and pulled him closer until their bodies were aligned from shoulder to thigh. Breath brushed against his cheek and sent an involuntary wave of pleasure down Zane’s spine.

“Soliciting a prostitute, Special Agent Garrett,” a deep voice purred into his ear. “Tsk-tsk. I thought you knew better than that.”

 _Dammit_. Zane recognized that voice. 

He turned to get a better look at the person who’d gone out of his way to get up in Zane’s shit and scold him in the middle of the club. He was greeted by a ruggedly-handsome grinning man. The lighting in the club lit his face in waves of green, blue and red, but Zane knew his hair was red-blonde and his eyes were bright green.

Zane narrowed his eyes at Detective Nick O’Flaherty and clenched his teeth. This red-headed bastard was part of the reason he’d come to the club to work out his stress in the first place. 

“O’Flaherty, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Apparently, I’m finding out how FBI agents spend their time when they’re not making my working life a living hell.” Nick looked at the guy Zane had danced with. “Arthur, what have I told you about working in the club?”

The man raised his hands “I swear I’m retired. Boyfriend and everything, but this beast was too pretty to pass up, Detective.”  His eyes flicked from Nick to Zane and back again. “Don’t you agree?”

“Get out of here before someone else sees you working and I’m forced to bring you in. I don’t want to deal with your bullshit tonight.”

The man grinned impishly and gave them a mock salute. “Yes, sir,” he said in a cheeky voice before disappearing back into the crowd.

Zane shrugged Nick’s arm off his shoulders and turned to glare at him. “Well, what’s your brilliant plan now, Detective? Going to arrest a federal agent?”

“No, I was thinking more along the lines of offering him company he doesn’t have to pay for.”

Nick hooked a finger in one of Zane’s belt loops and tugged him close. Zane's breath caught in his chest. He looked at Nick’s mouth for a moment before meeting Nick’s green eyes. 

“I’m not looking for someone to _hang out_ with for a few hours, Detective O'Flaherty." Zane said in an acidic tone. "My needs are a little more… specific tonight.”

Nick ghosted his lips over Zane’s and growled. “I know exactly what you need, Special Agent Garrett.”

Zane groaned into Nick’s mouth when their lips met in a brutal kiss. Nick’s fingers gripped Zane’s hair tightly, the sharp pain added to the fire running through his veins. He pulled Nick flush against his body and shuddered when Nick bit into his lip. 

“We should get off the dance floor, before I fuck you right here,” Nick rasped against Zane’s ear.

“Good plan.”

Nick grabbed him by the hand and pulled him through the crowd toward the back of the club. 

They approached a black door, hidden down a dark hallway, guarded by a man who was solid enough to make Zane look small. Nick smiled at the guard and dropped Zane’s hand. Nick and the guard shook hands and slapped each other on the back. The guard opened the door and waved them through. Before Zane could protest or get an explanation, Nick took his hand again and drug him through the door.

Once it was closed, Zane noticed the music from the club was muffled except for the bass beats that filtered through the walls. Nick led them up a dark staircase which ended in another dark hallway. He opened up the third door on the right and urged Zane into the room.

Before Zane had a chance to give the room, which appeared to be an office, more than a cursory glance, he found himself with his back pressed against the wall, and Nick’s fingers digging into his hipbones. 

Zane struggled to keep his breathing even.

“I usually top,” Zane said, suddenly. His voice didn’t come out as steady as he’d hoped.

Nick’s lips quirked and he stepped closer. “Is that so?”

He swallowed and nodded.

“Now, when you say usually, I take it that tonight you don’t want to top.” Nick murmured against his lips. “That tonight, what you really _need_ , is to let someone else take control.”

Zane didn’t even try to reign in his groan when Nick kissed him again. 

His hands feathered against Nick’s back, tracing the hard muscle he could feel stretched out underneath his shirt. Nick pressed against him with more urgency. Their hardening erections brushed against each other and Zane gasped. The sensation sent a white-hot flash of pleasure through his body.

“Fuck,” he said breathlessly.

Nick chuckled. “Eventually.”

Nick drug his teeth lightly along Zane’s jaw. Zane shuddered under the touch. 

As much as it pained him to admit that O’Flaherty was right, this kind of attention and voluntary loss of control was exactly what Zane needed tonight.

One of Nick’s hands slipped from Zane’s hip to his lower back. He pulled until Zane’s back was arched out from the wall, their groins thrust together. Nick leaned back enough to watch Zane’s expression as he started unbuttoning Zane’s shirt with his other hand. 

Nick’s lips quirked. Zane kind of wanted to punch him for being a smug bastard, but then he would stop touching Zane’s body. Nick bit at Zane’s lips again while he pulled Zane’s shirt out of his pants. 

Zane moaned. 

Later, he could punch him later. 

Nick claimed his mouth as he yanked Zane’s shirt down his arms and tossed it across the room. Zane pulled away from the kiss and brought his hands up to the buttons of Nick's shirt. Nick yanked his hands away and pinned them to the wall above Zane's head.

"Don't touch until I fucking tell you." Nick hissed.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

Nick shook his head. "If you want to get fucked, you'll do as I say. You won't regret it."

Zane groaned in frustration.

Nick slipped Zane's undershirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. His gaze was heated as it raked over the newly exposed skin. He traced Zane's chest and stomach lightly with the tips of his fingers.

Zane released a slow, shaky breath.

"Damn, son. Look what you've been hiding under all those clothes." Nick said, almost reverently.

Zane shrugged. "What can I say? The gym is my friend."

Nick snorted. "Well, at least you're humble."

"I'm also impatient." Zane said as he grabbed Nick by the belt and spun them until Nick's chest was pressed against the wall. Zane leaned in, making sure to grind his erection against Nick's ass, and nipped at Nick's ear. Nick growled and looked over his shoulder at Zane, his expression bordered on murderous.

"Aw, someone doesn't like having the tables turned on him?" Zane crooned.

Nick smiled. "No, I don't mind as long as you make it worth my while."

"Is that so?"

Nick hummed in agreement and reached back to pull Zane into a kiss. The bastard certainly knew how to kiss, though Zane would never tell him that. The world wouldn't be able to contain Nick's ego if he did.

Zane melted into the kiss. 

He tugged Nick's shirt out from where it was tucked into his pants. Once there was enough give to the fabric, he moved his hands under the shirt to smooth over the soft skin on Nick's stomach. 

Nick moaned into the kiss. 

Zane shifted his hips to grind his erection even harder into Nick's ass.

The next thing Zane knew, his face was pressed into the wall and Nick was the one rubbing his erection into Zane's ass. 

"How the fuck did you do that?" Zane asked incredulously.

"Learned that shit in Recon." Nick said with a laugh.

"Great, not only did I make the idiotic decision to fuck around with a police detective, but he's also one of the crazy Marines. This night just keeps getting better."

"Babe, I haven't even begun to show you my crazy."

Zane huffed out a laugh as Nick yanked at Zane's belt. A few moments later he had his hand wrapped around Zane's cock and he gave it one slow, tight stroke. Zane pressed his mouth into one of his arms that were braced against the wall to try and silence his drawn out groan. 

"No, you don't get to cover up your noises. I want to hear you." Nick hissed as he pulled at Zane's cock again. 

Zane let his head fall back against Nick's shoulder. His hips thrust into Nick's hand. Sharp cries and deep moans spilled from his lips. Nick's breath was harsh against his cheek. Each gentle puff sent shivers of pleasure down Zane's spine. Every stroke of Nick's hand on his cock brought waves of euphoric sensation back up his spine. The dueling feelings made every inch of Zane's skin come alive, sparking in anticipation.

"Now, tell me, Special Agent Garrett." Nick swiped at the head of Zane's cock with his thumb as he spoke against Zane's ear. "Just how much control are you looking to give up tonight?"

Zane growled and thrust forward into Nick's hand. "As much as you can wrangle out of me, Detective O’Flaherty,” Zane replied, letting his Texas-bred drawl filter into his voice.

"Fuck, babe. You're pulling out accents on me now?" Nick chuckled.

Nick released Zane's cock and pushed him, one hand pressed against Zane's back, closer to the wall. He nudged Zane's legs apart, until the pants around his ankles prevented him from spreading anymore.

Zane felt Nick take a step back and heard him hum happily. "Damn, that’s a pretty sight." 

Zane ducked his chin slightly, his skin flushed. No matter how old he got, he never seemed to be able to take a compliment about his appearance. 

Nick dropped to his knees behind him. Zane’s stomach clenched. Nick’s hands smoothed down his back, leaving shivering trails of heat in their wake. His fingers dug deep into the meat of Zane’s ass and spread him until he was left twitching and exposed. Zane pressed his forehead against the wall and took a deep, steadying breath. Nick bit into his lower back, the sensation tore a hiss from Zane's lips.

"Do you have any idea how crazy this ridiculous ass of yours has been making me?" Nick growled against his skin.

Zane shook his head and whimpered involuntarily.

Nick's tongue traced wet trails on the skin of Zane's lower back, ass and thighs. Zane's fingertips dug into the wall. He pressed his eyes closed tightly and bit back his moans. 

Then, the tongue that had been giving him such pleasure darted, teasingly, between his cheeks. 

Zane tensed and swatted at Nick's head. "Hey, no ass to mouth, man."

Nick caught his wrist and slammed it against the wall at Zane's side. The fingers of Nick's other hand dug into Zane's right hip. He could feel Nick's hot, deep breaths brushing across his left hip, like Nick was trying to calm himself down.

"That's fine, Zane. But don't fucking _hit_ me," Nick said in a serious voice.

It was the first time he'd heard Nick call him by his first name. Zane suddenly felt like a dick. "I'm sorry," he apologized quietly.

Nick rested his forehead against Zane's hip and released his wrist. "It's not your fault." He patted Zane's right hip and stood up. 

Nick’s fingertips grazed up the muscles of Zane’s back, over his shoulders and down to his hands where they interlocked with Zane’s. Nick pressed his chest into Zane’s back and nudged against Zane’s jaw with his nose. 

"You still up for this?" Zane asked hesitantly.

Nick clucked his tongue and pushed his erection into Zane's ass. "Don't worry, you aren't getting rid of me that easily." Nick released his wrists and Zane heard the sound of a lube packet being torn open. "Hands on the wall, Special Agent Garrett." 

Zane did as he was told. A moment later, Nick leaned against the wall on his forearm. He looked at Zane with a sly half-smile. Lube-slick fingers pressed against his hole. Zane groaned loudly as one of Nick's fingers slid into him and twisted.

"Holy shit, O'Flaherty," Zane said with a gasp.

Nick smirked, like he was entertained by the noises escaping Zane’s lips as Nick finger-fucked him. Every time Nick’s fingers moved, Zane’s skin felt tighter, more heated. 

Nick dropped his arm from where it had been resting against the wall. He stepped closer and trailed fingertips over Zane’s achingly erect cock as he worked a second finger into Zane, tearing a groan from his lips. Nick chuckled darkly and wrapped those teasing fingers around Zane’s cock and started stroking him in time with the fingers moving in his ass. 

“You look good like this, Special Agent Garrett. Spread out against a wall and panting for me. Think I can make you beg for it? If I just keep teasing you like this, think you’ll beg me for my dick, or will you just cum all over the wall?” Nick growled at Zane’s side.

Zane closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the wall, moaning pitifully in response to Nick’s words. There was a third finger in his ass now, scissoring, rubbing and thrusting along with the others. His chest ached.

“Fuck me before you kill me, O’Flaherty,” Zane said finally.

Nick hissed. “It’s like that, huh?” He released Zane’s aching cock and removed his fingers. Before Zane could do more than sag against the wall, Nick grabbed him by the shoulders and walked him over to the desk across the room. He pushed Zane down until he was bent at the waist, cheek pressed into the assorted paperwork on the top of the desk. Nick’s chest pressed against Zane’s back, the buttons on his shirt dug into Zane’s skin, reminding him that he was, essentially, naked and Nick was still fully clothed. Nick grabbed his wrists and moved them above Zane’s head. “Grab the edge of the desk, babe. I’ll give you the ride of your life.”

Zane’s fingers wrapped over the edge of the desk, almost automatically. He was breathing harshly and shuddering in anticipation. It’d been a long time since someone had gotten him this worked up. His hips rolled in a hopeless attempt to find friction for his overly hard cock.

“I said fuck me before you kill me, damnit,” he growled over his shoulder.

Nick’s eyebrows shot up. 

Nick grabbed hold of Zane’s dark curls and moved his head until Zane was looking away from Nick again.

“Eyes to the front, Special Agent Garrett,” Nick said in a rough voice. The fingers in Zane’s hair tightened. Nick’s other hand pressed into the center of Zane’s back, pushing him into the desk harder. Zane’s heartbeat roared in his ears, waves of pleasure spread through his body. Nick leaned closer and hissed in Zane’s ear. “Mouth off one more time and I will leave you here. You’ll find yourself all alone, spread across this desk, aching to get fucked and no one will be there to give you what you want.” Zane whimpered before he could stop himself. “That’s not what you want, is it, Special Agent Garrett.” Zane shook his head as best he could with Nick’s fingers wrapped in his hair. “Then be patient and you’ll get fucked like you need.” 

Nick released Zane’s hair, his fingers smoothed over Zane’s head and down his back as he stood up again. 

The jangle of Nick’s belt being undone and purr of his zipper sliding down made Zane bite his lip. He gripped the edge of the desk harder and pressed his forehead against the wooden top. _Finally._

There was a crinkle of a condom package being torn open before the empty wrapper was tossed on the desk next to Zane’s head. Another lube packet was opened and, after a moment, it too was thrown on the desk next to Zane. Then the blunt head of Nick’s cock was pushing into him.

Zane cried out and thrust back, trying to get Nick in him quicker.

“Damn, son.” Nick gritted out as he thrust deep into Zane’s body. Zane could only moan and roll his hips in response. Once fully seated in Zane’s body, Nick stopped moving and clutched at Zane’s hipbones. “You are so fucking tight, Garrett,” Nick said in a breathless voice.

Zane rolled his hips again and they both moaned.

Nick slid out of him until the head of his cock was the only thing keeping Zane stretched open. He made a couple of micro thrusts, barely moving in and out of his body. “Ready to get fucked, Special Agent Garrett?” Zane didn’t get a chance to respond, because almost as soon as Nick stopped talking, he slammed into Zane’s body, rocking him up onto his toes with the force.

Zane melted onto the desk as Nick thrust into him. He felt his chest rumbling from the groans rolling past his lips, but he didn’t care. Nick’s fingers were still digging into his hips and he was fucking Zane deep and hard. Zane was floating in a haze of blissed-out lust. 

It took him a few minutes, or maybe a few days, to realize that Nick was fucking him in time with the bass beats drifting through the walls from the club. Zane laughed dazedly once he noticed.

“Something funny, Garrett?” Nick asked as he slammed into Zane again.

“You’re fucking me in time with the music,” Zane slurred.

Nick snorted. “You’re sex-drunk.”

Zane chuckled and turned his head until he was laying on his cheek. Nick folded over his back and nipped at Zane’s shoulder blade. He released one of Zane’s hips and wrapped his fingers around Zane’s cock. Zane moaned helplessly and thrust into Nick’s hand. Nick stroked him in time with his thrusts, which no longer matched the bass beats coming through the walls. He heard Nick moan as Zane thrust back onto Nick’s cock. 

“Come on, Garrett.” Nick rested his forehead against Zane’s back. He adjusted the angle of his thrusts, sending white lightning up Zane’s spine and across his vision. “Let’s finish this. I want to see you cum all over the place.”

Zane nodded. He pushed into Nick’s hand again. Each of Nick’s deep thrusts sent radiating prickles of pleasured sensation through Zane’s body. The tingle in his lower spine was the only warning he had before every muscle in his body tightened like a bow string and he came, spilling over Nick’s fingers.

Nick cried out against Zane’s muscled back and he thrust into Zane one last time, shuddering as he came.

It was a few minutes later when Zane’s post-orgasmic haze cleared enough for him to realize he hadn’t actually died. He shifted and Nick groaned. He pulled out of Zane carefully and chucked the condom into a waste basket next to the desk. He held a hand out to Zane and helped him up. Zane wobbled on his feet when he first stood up, his legs felt weak. Nick chuckled at him, his teeth digging into his bottom lip. Zane shook his head and dropped Nick’s hand.

Zane blushed when he saw the mess they’d made of the desk. “Whose office is this?”

Nick laughed and shrugged. “I have no idea, actually. I know the bouncer from a case I worked when I was on Vice, but I don’t know anyone else here.”

Zane barked a laugh as he used his discarded undershirt to clean up. He pulled up his pants and looked over at Nick, who was attempting to straighten up the papers on the desk so it didn’t look like someone had just gotten fucked on top of it. 

“What you’re saying is we should get out of here before someone notices we’re here.”

Nick nodded and smiled wickedly.

“There’s a diner around the corner, feel like grabbing some food?”

Zane snorted. “Yeah, let me just finish getting dressed.” He looked around curiously. _Where the hell had Nick thrown his other shirt?_

“Looking for this?” Nick asked, his voice alight with barely contained glee. Zane glanced at him and saw his shirt was hanging off of one of Nick’s fingers. 

“Asshole,” he muttered as he snatched the shirt and threw it on.

He only managed to get a few buttons done up before Nick grabbed his hand and drug him out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

_Holiday Inn, NYC - November 2008_

 

Ty was just stepping out of the shower when there was a knock at his hotel room door. He frowned. His partner was supposed to be packing up his room down the hall, since they’d wrapped up their case a few days before. 

He scrubbed the towel over his hair and chucked it onto the bathroom counter, calling out for the person at his door to wait. He slid on briefs and jeans and grabbed his gun. 

On the other side of the peep hole he was greeted by Elias Sanchez’ smiling face, who waved dramatically. Ty huffed a laugh, made quick work of the locks on the door, and opened the door. Elias pulled a pink donut box out from behind his back and waggled it at Ty before making his way into the room. Ty locked the door behind him and deposited his gun on one of the nightstands.

“To what do I owe this donut-laden visit?” Ty asked as Elias scooted one of the hotel room chairs next to one of the double beds, sat in it and propped his feet up on the bed before digging into the box of donuts. “Oh and make yourself at home, Eli,” he continued with a laugh.

Elias grinned at him around a donut. 

“You don’t steal all of my donuts like my partner does,” Elias explained between bites.

Ty snorted.

He pawed through his luggage trying to find something that was still clean. They’d been in New York for just under two months, and Ty was getting really fucking tired of laundromats. He found a hole in the lining of his duffel and growled. After dumping the contents on one of the beds he poked at the hole and found out it was big enough for one of his T-shirts to get lost inside. He pulled the ball of black fabric out of the hole and unfurled it. When he saw which shirt it was, he laughed and slipped it over his head.

“Nice! Did Irish send you that one?” Elias asked between bites of his third donut.

“Yeah, it came in the mail a few days before I left for NYC. Thought I’d forgotten it at home, but it was lost in the lining of my bag.”

The shirt was black with two cartoon cops on the front. One was lying in a bed yelling, “Cover me!” The other was standing next to it draping a blanket over his partner.

It was his new favorite shirt. 

“So, you think Burns will let you go back to not having a partner when you return to DC?”

Ty sighed. “Probably not. He’s been harassing me about it ever since James died. And I didn’t get Garrett killed, so I doubt he’ll let me go back to working on my own right now.”

Ty focused on refolding the clothes he’d dumped out of the duffel in an attempt to avoid Elias’ knowing stare. 

“First of all, Grady. You didn’t get James killed, the bastard that shot you both did,” Elias explained in a frustrated tone.

Ty grunted and fussed with one of his henleys. They were such a pain in the ass to fold properly. The material had a tendency to want to roll instead of fold and it drove him nuts.

“Do you even want to get a different partner after working with Garrett?” Elias asked in a neutral voice.

Ty flinched. 

“I don’t really care.” He tried to keep his voice sounding disinterested. “I’ve been fine without a partner.”

“I’ve seen the way you look at him, Ty. Plus, you two do work well together.” Elias paused. “Well, when you’re not arguing or throwing each other around. Though maybe that does it for you.”

“Jackass.” Ty threw a shirt at him. Ty fidgeted for a few moments before asking, in a hesitant voice. “What do you mean the way I look at him? I don’t look at him any different than anyone else.”

“Ty, don’t bullshit me. I’ve known you way too long for that,” Elias said immediately. Ty nodded. “You look at him like he’s the biggest, shiniest present under the Christmas tree with your name on him.”

The thrill that ran through Ty’s body upon hearing that was enough to confirm what he’d suspected since they’d arrived in New York. There was something different about Zane that drew Ty in like a planet orbiting the sun, and he was already well on his way to falling hard for the man.

“It’s that obvious, huh?” 

“Only because I know you,” Elias said quietly. He held the box of donuts out to Ty and shook it until Ty caved in and took one. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think you’re alone it in.”

Ty paused mid-bite. “Alone in what?”

“I’m pretty sure he’d say yes if you asked him to the dance.” Elias rolled his eyes. “Seriously, I’ve seen you two together a lot in the last few weeks. At first there was definitely animosity on both sides, but…”

“But what?”

“Now he acts like you’re a baby kitten he’s just adopted. You claw up his stuff, bite his nose when he’s sleeping and hiss at his attempts to comfort you. But instead of getting pissed off at you, he just melts.”

“Great, so what you’re saying is my partner probably won’t shoot me in my sleep because he thinks I’m a kitten. That’s fucking wonderful, Eli. Especially since Zane _doesn’t like cats_.”

“Hey, fuck you, my metaphors are awesome.” Elias smiled at him slowly. “And Grady, you just proved my point. You haven’t bothered to get to know that sort of thing about your partners since Sidewinder first got together. Not even with your last FBI partner.”

“Shut up.” Ty flopped onto the bed Elias was using as a footrest and stared at the ceiling. “It doesn’t matter how he looks at me or how you think he acts. He was married before, to a woman. He’s probably straight and even if he wasn’t, he could do a hell of a lot better than me.”

Elias hummed noncommittally. “I wouldn’t put money down on him being completely straight.”

“I don’t even want to know why you think that.” Ty rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah, I think I’ll let you figure that one out on your own.” Elias chuckled. Ty heard him clear his throat before he continued. “You’re not slipping into a guilt spiral over that flight attendant are you?”

“They prefer the term air hostess and yes, I do feel guilty because I got her killed, in a really fucking brutal way, by a fucking serial killer. She didn’t deserve that, Eli.” Ty’s voice cracked. He didn’t bother to mention that he hadn’t needed the nightmares about her strung up like a fucking painting, calling out to him and asking him why he’d let that happen to her.

Elias pulled Ty’s hand away from his face. “That was not your fault, six. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, you know how that shit works. You cannot function in this world if you take responsibility for every single death. You know that.”

“Yeah, I do know that. I also know that Henninger would have never known she existed if I hadn’t called her up for a quick fuck!” Ty blinked back tears. “I got her killed. I got her fucking _tortured_ , Eli!”

Elias yanked him up into a hug. 

Ty let himself be coddled for the moment. It didn’t take the sting out of his guilt, but it did make it easier to breathe. He knew Elias only had a vague idea of what he and Nick had gone through when they were captured. But he understood enough to know why Ty was having a breakdown over a woman, who was basically a stranger, getting tortured to death because of a mistake he’d made.

“You think I don’t feel guilty about getting sick the day Sears and Ross were assigned to work this case? My partner and I were supposed to be the ones in that hotel room where they were shot, man. It should have been us that died, but we didn’t. By some random twist of fate we lived and they died. Ty, that’s the way life works. We can’t save everyone. No matter how much we may want to.”

Ty didn’t even want to attempt to imagine the gaping wound in his life that would have been left behind by Elias dying. It’d been the two of them, and Nick, almost from the beginning in the Marines. The three of them were so close, hell the whole Sidewinder team was so close, it would be like losing a chunk of their souls to lose Elias. 

He did know that if Elias had been the one to die in that hotel room, and Ty was still somehow assigned to work the case, Henninger would not have lived when it was all over. Instead of rotting away in a maximum security prison like he was now, Ty would have put that bastard in the fucking ground. Fuck the consequences.

They both pulled back from the hug a few minutes later.

“I hate New York,” Ty muttered.

Elias laughed loudly and slapped him on the back. “Just for that I am sending you one of those ‘I Heart NY’ shirts.”

Ty snorted. 

Elias scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed loudly. 

“Right, well now that we’ve had our overload of very un-manly emotions for the morning. The real reason I came here was to talk to you about Zane. I can see how you feel about him and I think you two could be good together. So, give it some thought. Don’t just blow him off because he wants to get to know the you behind the façade.” 

“Whatever you say, Oprah.” Ty grunted and looked down at his hands.

“And don’t grunt at me and ignore what I’ve said because you’re uncomfortable. Honestly, I think the feelings go both ways between you two. He looks at you like you're a warm apple pie, fresh from the oven and he has the only spoon, Ty.”

“Oh my god, Eli. Stop with the metaphors, I’m begging you.”

“Not until you tell me that you like him. That you want to be more than work partners with him and that you’re going to fucking do something about it.”

“Fine, yes. I am attracted to Zane and if I had to date someone I’d want it to be him. I just don’t want to rush into anything, you know. I want to do it right.”

“You’re hopeless. Go get him and fuck him right now,” Elias said with a wave of his hand.

“What? No. I’m not going to go fuck him right now. A Holiday Inn is no place to fuck someone you could potentially care about for the first time.”

“Then let him fuck you, I don’t care. Just get it out of your system so you don’t spend months pining after your fucking partner.”

“I hate you. Seriously, I don’t even know why I bothered coming out to you assholes. You all try to get up in my personal life now. It’s fucked up.”

Elias laughed at him as Ty ushered him toward the door. Zane was just about to knock on the door when Ty opened it to send Elias on his way. 

Ty cursed to himself.

“Good morning, Special Agent Garrett,” Elias said with a smile as he clapped Zane on the shoulder. “You have fun in DC and take care of my buddy here, he can be a self-destructive idiot.”

“Yeah, love you too, Eli!”

Zane laughed. “I’ll be sure to do that, Eli.”

“Work it out, six!” Elias called out as he walked away.

“What was that all about?” Zane asked.

“Eli just needed someone to braid his hair,” Ty shouted toward Elias.

Elias flipped him off from the end of the hallway before rubbing a hand over his bald-shaved head. “You wish you looked this good, Grady!”

Zane chuckled and waved goodbye to Elias.

Zane was dressed in a black, form-fitting, button-up shirt with the top three buttons undone, and a pair of jeans. He had his black leather motorcycle jacket, that they’d picked up a few weeks before, draped over his forearm. 

Ty’s mouth went dry and he was barely able to bite back the urge to maul his partner in the hallway.

“Are you ready yet? I’ve been waiting on you all morning,” he grumbled as he spun on his heels and made his way into the hotel room to grab his bags. 

He tried not to think about what Elias said about the way Zane watched him. He certainly didn’t add a more confident swagger to his walk in an attempt to get Zane to watch his ass.

“Just waiting on you now, Grady,” Zane drawled from where he was leaning against the wall just inside the hotel room door. 

Ty glanced at the clock, it read 10:45 AM. _Shit._ They had to check out in 15 minutes and that was nowhere near enough time to figure things out between him and Zane. It certainly wasn’t enough time for him to maul Zane the way he wanted.

He swallowed heavily to repress the shiver that thought sent through him. 

He hefted his newly-packed duffel over his shoulder and gave the room a last look as he grabbed his other bag.

“Let’s go, Lone Star. I am really fucking tired of being in New York.”

 

* * *

 

_Red Roof Inn, Atlanta - March 2009_

 

“You fucking idiot! You almost got yourself killed _again_!” Zane shouted as he slammed the hotel room door closed behind them.

“Well I didn’t. So you don’t have to be so bitchy about it,” Ty shouted back.

Zane blinked dramatically and placed his hands on his hips. “I don’t have to be so _bitchy_ about it? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Ty flailed at Zane before tugging off his tie and undoing the first few buttons on his shirt while he mumbling to himself. “Yes, Zane. You’re being bitchy.” He started ticking off fingers as he listed off his next points. “I didn’t get shot. We caught the guy, and there was only minor property damage.”

Zane rolled his eyes. 

He’d pulled off his own tie and undid a few buttons while his partner ranted. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows before responding, holding up a finger for each counter-point he made. “You didn’t get shot, this time. We caught the guy, but we also put him in the hospital where he could potentially sue us later. That’s just wonderful. And you call that _minor_ property damage? Ty, you drove the FBI SUV into the side of the fucking building!”

“That was an empty conference room! No one got hurt.”

“That’s not the point, Ty. That guy held a gun to your fucking head. If I hadn’t been able to get to one of my knives, you would have fucking died today.” Zane’s voice cracked and his chest ached.

Ty froze in place. He was looking away from Zane and running a hand through his hair.

“You could get a different partner if that happened. You’d bounce back,” Ty said quietly.

Zane grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him until they were facing each other. Zane took a step closer. “What kind of bullshit did you just tell me?”

Ty flinched. His gaze darted from Zane’s eyes, to the room around them like he was looking for an exit. “You can get another partner, Zane. If I’m too much of a hassle to save all the time or I  get killed, you can still work in violent crimes with a different partner.”

Zane scoffed. 

“You are such a fucking idiot, you know that?” Zane asked. “Did it ever occur to you that I wouldn’t give a fuck about working in violent crimes or with the FBI without you? That it would fucking _destroy_ me to lose you, especially like that.”

Before Zane could talk himself out of it, he grabbed Ty’s face in both of his hands and kissed him. Ty yelped and flailed until is hands came to rest on Zane’s biceps. Zane pulled back from the kiss and looked into Ty’s eyes, but he didn’t drop his hands. He made sure everything he felt for Ty was on display, loud and clear, in his eyes and face as he looked down at the man that had come into his life and turned everything upside down.

Ty looked up at him. His eyes were glossy and bright green and they darted back and forth as they studied Zane’s face. Whatever Ty saw must have convinced him that Zane wasn’t fucking with him, because he growled and yanked Zane down for another, more brutal and passionate, kiss. 

They attacked each other with their mouths as their hands tore at each other’s clothes. Buttons flew across the room, seams ripped. Ty didn’t even bother to break the kiss to pull Zane’s undershirt off, he just ripped it to shreds.

Between kisses they continued to argue.

“You stupid fucking, reckless hillbilly. When will you learn that you don’t need to risk your life to do your fucking job?”

“Asshole, why’d it take you so long to fucking kiss me? I thought you were going to ask McCoy for a different partner because you were getting all moody.”

“Wasn’t moody, just impatient. Every time I’ve looked at you since we arrived in New York all those months ago, I wanted to get you naked.”

“I wanted the same thing, but I thought you didn’t like guys. I was pissed at you for being so hot and right there and not fucking interested.”

They collapsed onto the bed in a tangle of naked limbs. 

Ty swatted at the bedside table with one hand, the other he had tangled in Zane’s curls so he could hold him close as they kissed. Zane drug his hands up and down Ty’s hard body, petting every inch of skin he could get his hands on. He’d waited six months to get Ty naked. As much as he wanted to take his time and study every noise and twitch he could pull from Ty, there was no way he had the control for that right then.

Ty tossed a string of condoms and a small bottle of lube on the bed next to them. He pulled Zane away from his mouth long enough to growl, “I want you to fuck me.”

Zane’s heart stuttered. “Jesus, Ty.” Ty rolled over underneath him and rolled his hips, presenting his ass to Zane. “You are going to kill me, baby.”

“Not until after you fuck the hell out of me.”

Zane slicked up his fingers and began working them into Ty’s writhing body. 

“Come on, Zane. Just fuck me,” Ty pleaded.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Ty. You’re getting prepped.” Zane thrust and twisted the fingers in Ty’s ass with each word he said. _Fuck_ , the sounds Ty made really might kill him.

Zane bit his bottom lip as he pulled his fingers out of Ty and rolled on a condom. His skin had never felt this heated or tight before. He swiped on some lube and lined up. “Quit wiggling, Ty.” He smoothed a hand up Ty’s muscled back as he pushed forward. He stopped halfway and let out a choked gasp. “Holy shit, you’re tight. Are you sure you’ve bottomed before?”

“Yes, I just don’t do it very often.” Ty thrust back on Zane’s cock, taking him all the way in.

They both moaned.

Ty pressed his forehead against the bed. Zane hissed as he pulled back. He rested his hands on Ty’s hips and stopped with just the head of his cock still inside Ty. “Ready?”

“Goddamnit, Zane!”

Zane chuckled and slammed his hips forward. He fucked Ty hard and fast. Ty writhed on the bed beneath him, his hands clawed at the bedsheets and his spine rolled as he moaned. 

Zane shook his head. The man was fucking beautiful.

Zane threw his head back and pulled out.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Ty demanded, glaring over his shoulder.

Zane snorted. “You’re going to ride me.”

Ty hissed. “Yeah, I can do that.” He flailed at Zane. “Lay down already, Christ. Everything with you takes forever.”

Zane laughed as he stretched out on the bed.

He’d barely gotten settled before Ty climbed over his hips and reached back to line up Zane’s cock.

They both cried out as Ty sank all the way down. 

Ty whimpered and clawed at Zane’s stomach once he was fully seated. His eyelids were heavy, jaw slack. 

Zane took the opportunity to openly admire Ty’s body, slick with sweat and tensed in pleasure. Then Ty’s body started to roll, from his hips to his neck, like he was made of liquid silver instead of flesh and blood. He rolled over and over with Zane buried deep inside him. Zane heard himself babbling blissed-out nonsense as he clawed at Ty’s muscled thighs.

Ty stared at him beneath lowered brows. He smirked as he lifted up, until Zane was almost fully out of his body, before slamming back down.

Zane groaned and moved his hands to rest on Ty’s hips. 

Ty continued to alternate between the violent rise-fall movements and his lithe body rolling. 

Zane panted. 

Ty sank down on him again and clenched around Zane’s cock.

“Baby,” Zane gasped.

Ty chuckled darkly. He smoothed his fingertips up Zane’s chest as he leaned forward and kissed Zane roughly. Zane palmed Ty’s ass and wrapped an arm around his back as they kissed. Then he spread his thighs and thrust up into Ty, hard. 

Ty growled against his lips and slammed back on each of Zane’s thrusts.

Zane drug his nails along Ty’s ass before releasing it. He worked a hand between their bodies and wrapped his hand around Ty’s cock. Ty whimpered into their kiss. 

He stroked Ty in time with their thrusts.

A twitch in his lower back was all the warning he had before his orgasm exploded through his body. He continued to thrust into Ty and pull at his cock as best he could as he came. Within a few strokes, Ty tensed and came all over Zane’s chest with a shout.

Ty collapsed on top of him. Zane pulled out carefully and tossed the condom on the floor.

They melted against each other on the bed.

It was several minutes before either of them had the energy to say anything. 

“Holy shit, Zane.”

Zane laughed and pressed a kiss against Ty’s hairline. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”

“So, you’ve been wanting to do that for a while, huh?”

Zane blinked sleepily and hummed in agreement.

“Me too,” Ty said as he burrowed under Zane’s jaw and pulled him closer. “Is this… uh. Do you want this to be a thing?”

“You’re not getting rid of me now, Grady.”

Ty laughed and nuzzled Zane’s neck. “Hadn’t planned on it, just wanted to make sure you knew you’d been claimed.”

“You claimed me, huh? I thought it was the other way around.”

“I’m too fucked-out to get into a logic fight with you right now.”

Zane laughed. He grabbed the edge of the blanket from the bed and draped it over the both of them. “We’ll figure it all out in the morning.”

Ty hummed contentedly.

Zane snuggled against Ty’s hair. Within a few moments Ty’s breathing evened out as he fell asleep in Zane’s arms.

Ty drove him nuts, but he’d been well worth the wait.


	5. Chapter 5

_Baltimore - March 2010_  

 

Nick tightened his grip on the steering wheel and cursed under his breath. He didn’t normally hate driving, but today the drivers around him were acting particularly stupid and reckless. 

Or he was just nervous.

“Why are we going to Baltimore, again?” Kelly asked suddenly.

Nick glanced at him and then back to the road. Kelly was practically vibrating with boredom in the passenger seat of the rental car. 

They’d left Boston the day before and stopped overnight at a hotel an hour outside of Baltimore. They didn’t need to be in the city until mid-day, so they’d taken advantage of the opportunity to stay in a strange city overnight. They’d ended up only taking advantage of each other, but that was normal for them.

“Ty is thinking of proposing to someone, and he wants us to meet them before he does. Just to make sure they’re not completely bat-shit-crazy.” Nick snorted, that was exactly how Ty had worded it over the phone too. Some things never changed.

“Oh, cool. Is it a guy or a girl?” Kelly asked.

“What?” Nick was distracted by a driver that had tried to merge into their passenger side. He barely resisted the urge to look for his gun and fire a warning shot across the hood of the other car. He didn’t appreciate people driving like maniacs when he had Kelly in the car with him.

“Is he proposing to a guy or a girl?” Kelly asked in a slow, teasing voice.

Nick huffed. “I don’t remember. I think he said it was a guy? I didn’t really ask.”

Kelly giggled and patted Nick’s thigh. Nick dropped one hand from the wheel automatically and laced his fingers with Kelly’s. His thumb traced small circles on the back of Kelly’s hand. The motion was soothing and went a long way toward calming his nerves. 

It wasn’t that he was necessarily nervous that Ty was getting ready to propose to someone. Nick had gotten over the crush he’d had on his best friend years ago. He just hoped whoever Ty had fallen for wasn’t going to rip Ty’s heart out. It would suck to have to hunt the person down and bury their body in an unmarked grave in the middle of the bayou outside of Digger’s house, or in the ocean off the side of his and Kelly’s boat. Body disposal was such a pesky thing.

“Wow, Detective. I can see why they pay you the big bucks.”

“What?” Nick asked incredulously, suddenly feeling a little guilty for where his thoughts had strayed.

“Nothing,” Kelly sing-songed back at him. 

Nick looked at him. Kelly smiled indulgently and released Nick’s hand. Nick frowned and looked back at the road, returning his newly-freed hand back to the wheel. He needed both hands for driving anyway. He absolutely wasn’t pouting because Kelly didn’t want to hold his hand. 

The sensation of Kelly’s fingertips ghosting over Nick’s cock through his jeans tore a gasp from his lips. “You’re a little tense, Nicky. Sure you don’t want a little road-head to help you out?” 

Kelly drug the back of his fingertips, heavy-handidly, along Nick’s hardening erection. Nick gripped the wheel and bit back a moan at the shiver of pleasure chasing up his spine. Kelly’s husky laugh as he palmed Nick through his jeans made him hiss. He grabbed Kelly’s wrist before he’d managed to pull Nick’s fly all the way down. 

“Kels, please. I’m driving, you’re going to get us in a wreck.”

“What do you mean? I’m not doing anything.”

Kelly’s innocent tone of voice would have been more believable if it wasn’t for two things. One, Nick knew him too well to ever believe he wasn’t up to something when he used that tone. And two, he was still struggling against Nick’s grip on his wrist, trying to get his hand inside Nick’s jeans.

“Shit!” Nick cursed when he realized he’d nearly missed their turn-off thanks to Kelly’s impish distraction techniques. He changed lanes quickly and gave an apologetic wave to the person he’d cut off. 

While he was distracted, Kelly managed to get Nick’s fly pulled down all the way and was working to open the button at the top of his jeans. “Kelly!” He shouted as he pulled Kelly’s hand away again and then fought to pull his fly back up while navigating over to the off-ramp. “I will leave you on the side of the highway,” he threatened. Not that he would ever do that and they both knew it.

“Then you wouldn’t get laid tonight.” Kelly snorted. “Besides, you’d never leave me anywhere. You love me too much and you’re way too possessive.”

“I’m not possessive,” Nick said immediately. Kelly stared back at him with one eyebrow raised, lips quirked. “Shut up.”

After another fifteen minutes of cursing and fighting traffic, Nick managed to find a parking spot in Baltimore’s Little Italy district. They walked hand-in-hand for another block or two before finally locating the Italian restaurant Ty had wanted them to meet at. The outside was all red brick and grey stone, with blue fabric awnings over the windows and doors. Chiaparelli’s looked like a nice, warm little place.

They stepped inside and were greeted by a friendly hostess. After a few moments she ushered them into the dining area and over to a table by the window where Ty was sitting. He stood up and the three of them exchanged hugs as the hostess walked away.  

“Where’s your soon-to-be-fiancé?” Nick asked once they were seated. 

“He’s in the restroom, he’ll be back in a minute.” Ty said with a wave of his hand.

Nick mentally patted himself on the back for managing to remember, at least partially, that Ty had mentioned a guy instead of a girl. 

Kelly snorted softly next to him. “Don’t act like you remembered what he said, Nicky. We both know you had no idea it was a guy.” Kelly whispered. 

Nick poked him in the ribs.

“O’Flaherty?” A familiar voice broke through their conversation. “What are you doing here?”

Nick looked up to find Special Agent Zane Garrett, an FBI agent he’d worked with a few years before, and slept with on a few occasions before he and Kelly had gotten together, standing next to the table.

Nick’s jaw dropped.

Before he could answer, Ty growled at them both, gesturing wildly. “You two know each other?”

“Yeah, Nick. Why don’t you explain to us how you know each other,” Kelly said through gritted teeth.

“I— We… that is…” Nick sputtered.

Zane patted Ty’s shoulders indulgently as he took the empty seat at the table. “Nick and I met a few years ago on a case in Boston. I got called in from Rhode Island to help out because they suspected someone at the Boston FBI office was responsible for a string of murders Nick was investigating. It turned out to be a guy on the cleaning staff. He appeared inept and dense to his superiors, but was actually intelligent enough to hack his way around security clearances. He dug around and found files on suspects in cold cases so he could go out and murder them in an odd twist of vigilante justice. It was a fascinating case.”

“Yeah, that’s fascinating, Zane. But it doesn’t explain why Nick looked guilty when he realized you were standing at the table.” Ty growled. Nick was impressed with Zane’s apparent ability to be unperturbed by Ty’s glare, because when Ty suddenly turned it on Nick he found himself wanting to retreat. “How many times did you sleep with him, Nick?”  Ty asked in a dangerously calm voice.

“Now, there’s no reason to—“

“We hooked up a few times Ty,” Zane interrupted.

Nick pointed at Zane across the table. “You are going to get me killed.”

Zane snorted and took a sip of his drink. 

“Yeah, and how long did you two hooking up go on?” Ty asked loudly.

Nick’s stomach clenched. “It was a few years ago and we were only casual, there were never feelings involved. Zane called it off at the beginning of October 2008.” Nick paused and frowned. He turned to Ty. “Wait, wasn’t that around the time that Burns insisted you take on a new partner?”

Ty looked at Zane after that, his features softened and he nodded. Zane smiled back at him and blushed. “Even though we didn’t sleep together for another six months after we were assigned as partners, I knew almost immediately that I wanted you and only you, Ty.”

Ty stared at Zane for another moment before wrapping his fingers in Zane’s hair and pulling him into a rough kiss. “You’re an idiot,” He whispered against Zane’s lips.

“Besides,” Zane said after they settled again. “Nick and I are better as friends.”

Ty huffed and Nick felt the ball of tension melting away from between his shoulders.

Until he realized that Kelly was staring at Zane. His expression was reminiscent of the perpetual frown he’d worn when they’d worked assignments with Sidewinder back in Recon. Brows lowered, chameleon colored blue-green eyes shaded and lips turned down on the edges. It was the look he wore when he was trying to decide whether he needed to shoot someone or, at the very least, take them to the ground.

Nick swallowed. Kelly hadn’t worn that look in years, not around Nick anyway.

“Kels?” He asked hesitantly.

Kelly’s eyes narrowed and he tilted his head as he continued to stare at Zane.

Ty perked up and look at Kelly warily. “Doc, are you all right?”

“Mhm.” Kelly hummed in a clipped tone.

Zane finally turned and met Kelly’s glare with an impassive gaze. “Can I _help_ you?”

_Oh shit_ , Nick thought. _This is not going to be good._

“No, I’m good,” Kelly responded immediately, his glare never wavering.

“You sure? You look a little tense.”

“Nope.” The ‘p’ made a popping noise as Kelly said it. 

Zane sat up further in his seat, squaring his shoulders and relaxing his arms. Nick recognized the posture change for what it was, he was relaxing for a fight. 

_Fuck, we’re going to get arrested. Again._

Nick exchanged a worried look with Ty. They fell into an expression-fueled conversation, taking advantage of the silent communication techniques they’d relied on to save their lives over and over again when in Recon.

_What the fuck are they doing?_ Ty began.

_I have no idea. What the hell is with your boyfriend?_ Nick answered.

_Him? Kelly started it! You need to calm them down._

_What? No, Zane obviously did something so you need to fix it._

_Yeah, he did_ you _. You fix it._

Nick glared at Ty one final time, before turning back to Kelly. Who was still glaring at Zane. Only the glare had now morphed into a glare complete with raised eyebrows and an innocuous looking half-smile that Nick recognized as being a precursor to Kelly throwing someone on their ass. 

_Shit._

“Kels, honey, please look at me.” Nick pleaded as he gently laid a hand on Kelly’s forearm. Kelly ignored him. “Look, this is my friend Zane. I’ve told you about him before. How we used to sleep together, but then we both met other people and now we’re just friends. He’s the one that humors my crazy zombie plans, remember?”

“Oh god, it’s _you_ encouraging the zombie nonsense? Goddamnit.” Ty glowered at Nick, but Nick ignored it.

“Kelly, please. We’re just friends,” Nick’s voice cracked as Kelly continued to ignore him.

“Should we explain?” Zane said suddenly, his lips twitching.

Kelly’s face morphed from a flippant glare to a mischievous smile. “I don’t know. This is kinda fun.”

Nick’s eyebrows rose in confusion. 

“What the hell is going on?” Ty demanded.

Zane nodded his head in Ty’s direction before speaking to Kelly again. “This one is about to blow a gasket and Nick looks like I just ran over his puppy.” Nick glared at him and Zane snorted. “Don’t glare at me, O’Flaherty, that’s exactly how you look right now.”

Kelly turned to Nick, finally, and licked his lips. He was grinning as he patted Nick’s hand on his forearm. “Of course I know who Zane is, Nicky. He came to Boston like a year ago and you guys went to some comic thing together.” Nick stared at him. That was true, but he didn’t understand what that had to do with the two of them have a glare-fight in the middle of the restaurant.

Zane laughed. “They’re still confused.”

Kelly rolled his eyes and huffed. “I figured out he was dating Ty months ago when he asked for relationship advice on Skype. He said he was dating his partner at the FBI and he started describing the guy. How he’d lock himself on their balcony with Cubans and Mike’s Hard Lemonade after a bad day. When I realized Zane was living in Baltimore now, it ended up being really fucking obvious.”

Zane nodded. “Yeah, Kelly’s been telling me stories about you guys for months. It wasn’t until we found out about this trip that we realized you two didn’t know that we all knew each other.” Zane shrugged. “It was Kelly’s idea to act like we hated each other to see how long it would take you two to panic.”

“You’re both assholes,” Ty said as he shook his head and glared at Kelly and Zane.

Nick stared at Kelly and blinked slowly. Kelly’s grin faltered. Nick leaned forward, wrapping his other hand around the back of Kelly’s neck. He pulled him closer, fingers gripping harder, his lips quirked as Kelly’s eyelids fluttered. Kelly had always loved when Nick held him like this. “You are in _so_ much trouble,” He whispered against Kelly’s temple before nipping at Kelly’s earlobe. Kelly gasped softly. Nick smiled and nuzzled his cheek. He pulled back further, they kissed each other softly, both of them apologizing for being idiots.

“I will never get used to seeing you two make-out in front of me,” Ty said in an exasperated tone.

Nick laughed against Kelly’s lips when he saw Kelly quietly flip Ty off as they continued to kiss.

Someone clearing their throat interrupted their kiss. Nick turned to tell whoever it was to fuck off when he saw it was, presumably, their waiter. He was a young, fit-looking man with bronzed skin and short dark hair.  

Nick swallowed hard.

He looked around the table at the others. Zane was snickering quietly and Ty was openly glaring at the waiter. Kelly was looking at the waiter with an unimpressed expression. After a moment, Kelly blinked at him owlishly and snorted.

The waiter smirked and passed them each a single sheet menu. He looked at Ty and Zane, “It’s good to see you guys back here, we’ve missed you.” Ty grunted. The waiter looked at Nick and Kelly before continuing. “And you’ve brought along friends. I’m Ryan, your waiter for this afternoon. Can I get you guys started off with some drinks?”

Nick smiled at the waiter as he gave his drink order. He felt a little bad for the guy since most of the table was either glaring at him or laughing about the others glaring. Kelly rested his hand on Nick’s leg and he traced patterns onto Nick’s inner thigh, occasionally brushing against his balls, making Nick’s voice croak.

He still wasn’t convinced this lunch wouldn’t end in one, or more, of them getting arrested.

“This is Zane’s _favorite_ restaurant,” Ty said in a mocking voice after the waiter walked away. “He likes the _scenery._ ” The last bit Ty said through gritted teeth.

Nick looked around, the decor was nice and warm; he could see the appeal. “It seems okay.”

“It is not my favorite restaurant. You’re the one who insisted we come here.” Zane rolled his eyes. “Ty thinks I have a thing for the waiter. Which I don’t, they just have good food and I used to live a couple blocks from here.”

Ty muttered to himself.

“So you two are partners at work?” Nick asked in an attempt to distract from the odd mood. “Wait, is this the partner of yours that Elias said you spent two months angrily eye-fucking while you were all working that case together in NYC?”

Ty huffed. “Yeah, he’s the same partner. That was our first case together and Eli spent the last morning we were in NYC trying to convince me to go down the hall and jump Zane’s bones.” Ty frowned. “Actually, he was a lot more blunt about it than that.”

“Wait, what?” Zane asked as he perked up and looked at Ty.

Ty snorted. “Let’s just say, if you’d finished packing your shit earlier that morning, he would have locked us in my hotel room after throwing condoms and lube at our heads.”

“Why the hell didn’t you act on all that earlier? Why did you wait six months for me to fucking kiss you?”

“I wasn’t sure if you liked guys.”

Zane covered his eyes with one hand and muttered. “Oh my god, Ty.”

“Hey Zane, since we all know that you and Nick hooked up. Did Ty ever tell you about the time he and Nick fucked?” Kelly asked in a cheerful tone.

“Kelly!” Nick hissed.

“What the fuck, Doc? What did I ever do to you?” Ty asked as he flailed at Kelly.

Kelly giggled. The three of them turned to look at Zane, who was staring blankly at the table. 

“Zane?” Ty asked hesitantly.

Zane blinked slowly, like he was trying to bring himself out of some deep thought. He looked at Ty with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I just got stuck trying to imagine what that must have been like.”

“What?” Ty croaked.

Zane shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “I’m sure it was hot between you two, but I’ve got you now and he’s with Kelly. So, oh well.”

“Yep,” Kelly exclaimed. “I’m the only one at this table that hasn’t slept with everyone else and my reward is that I’m stuck with this asshole.” He jerked a thumb at Nick.

“Stuck with me! You’re the one who came to me, begging me to fuck you and you were the one who proposed!” Nick growled back.

“You love me,” Kelly said as he smiled at Nick and batted his lashes.

“Yes, I do. Now quit being an asshole.”

“Wait, he was the one that proposed?” Zane asked. “How did that go?”

Ty snorted.

“Shut up, Ty,” Nick said before turning to Zane. “We’d been dating maybe seven months when I get a call from Kelly while I was at work. And what did you have to tell me, Kels?”

Kelly shrugged. “I just told you to make sure you had the following Saturday off.”

“But why did you tell me I needed that day off? Give Zane the full story.”

Kelly rolled his eyes. “I told you we had an appointment at the court-house. I still don’t know why you got so worked up over it.”

“Because that’s all you fucking told me. You didn’t tell me why. You just said I needed the following Saturday off work because we had to be at the courthouse by one p.m.” Nick flailed at Kelly, who looked back at him, unimpressed. “I work in law enforcement, Kels. You tell me I need to be at a court-house by a certain time and I think one of two things. I either need to be there to testify for a case or, because of the way Sidewinder has a tendency to get arrested all the fucking time, that I have to bail someone out of trouble. I was trying to come up with believable alibis for all of our friends before you finally explained.”

“What does a court house have to do with Kelly proposing?” Zane asked, staring at the two of them in confusion.

Kelly grinned at Nick. “I told him we needed to be there by one because that was the next available time they had for weddings with the Justice of the Peace.” Kelly looked at Zane and continued his explanation. “Nick ranted on for another five minutes before he stopped mid-sentence and was like, ‘Wait, did you say wedding?’”

“So you guys got married at a court-house with one week’s worth of notice?” Zane asked.

“Hell no.” Nick snorted. “We got married two weeks later on the deck of my, well, our boat. I wasn’t going to get married in the fucking court-house where I regularly testify on homicide cases. Plus, I didn’t think Kelly would behave himself in a court-house around real adults.”

“Hey…” Kelly huffed.

“Did you keep your last names?” Zane asked.

“I wanted to go with O’Flabbotty, but Nick threatened to divorce me.”

“It sounds like a fucking Star Trek villain or a brand of vegan butter,” Nick growled. “Hyphenating would have been too long and weird looking.”

“What about Nickels?” Zane asked.

Kelly perked up in his seat and looked at Nick eagerly. “Hell no. Nick Nickels? That sounds like a shitty early ‘90s rapper.” Nick said immediately. 

Kelly’s shoulders sagged. 

Nick poked Kelly gently in the ribs and smiled at him fondly. “I ended up changing my last name to Abbott.”

Kelly smiled at him and blushed.

"You took his last name?" Ty arched an eyebrow at Nick.

Nick shrugged. "Wasn't too fond of mine. Bad memories."

Ty pressed his lips together, his eyes full of understanding.

Nick watched Kelly for a long moment, his heart skipping a beat when Kelly noticed and winked at him.

"Besides, I'm Kelly's only family now so..." Nick hesitated as he looked for the right way to explain it. "It's like a clean slate. A new family. We're the only ones, you know? It's...nice."

Ty nodded. "There's one problem." Nick raised an eyebrow. "I can't call you O anymore and that's upsetting me."

Nick snorted. "You'll get over it, Grady."

They spent the next few minutes deciding on their food orders. Ty complained about how their waiter hadn’t brought any breadsticks to the table. Zane explained that he’d specifically asked them not to, so they wouldn’t be asked to leave. Again. Nick couldn’t follow their argument after that because they started talking over each other. 

While Ty and Zane were distracted, Kelly adjusted the tablecloth until it was pooled over Nick’s lap. Nick clenched his teeth and continued to study his menu. Usually if he ignored Kelly’s wandering hands in public places Kelly would eventually get bored and stop trying to get them arrested. 

Usually. 

Okay, Nick had never actually seen Kelly get bored enough to stop, but it had to happen one day. Right?

By the time Ty waved their waiter over to the table, Kelly’s wandering hands had worked Nick up to full hardness. He was vaguely aware that everyone else at the table were talking to each other, but he couldn’t even pretend to pay attention to it right then. Not when Kelly was slowly stroking his cock through his jeans. 

If someone had told him ten years before that he’d be relying on his Recon training to keep a straight face in the middle of a restaurant while his husband tried to get him to cum in his jeans, he would have laughed in their face. 

And then freaked out. 

As their waiter approached the table, Kelly thumbed open the button at the top of Nick’s jeans and pulled down his fly. Nick leaned back in his chair enough to give Kelly room to work his hand into Nick’s jeans. He told himself that with the waiter at the table he couldn’t risk escaping or reacting now. 

Zane was in the middle of ordering, when Kelly wrapped his hand around Nick’s cock. Nick tasted blood from where he’d bit his tongue hard enough not to cry out.

“You okay, honey?” Kelly asked in curious voice.

Nick gave him his best ‘I hate you so much, please don’t stop touching me’ look. “I’m fine. Just, need a drink of water.”

“Aw, have some of mine.” 

Kelly’s eyes lit up mischievously as he passed Nick his glass of water with the hand that wasn’t stroking Nick’s cock under the table. Nick stared at him while he sipped the water. Kelly smirked as his grip tightened on Nick’s cock, making him shudder. 

“You should order your food, Nicky,” Kelly said with a grin.

Nick sputtered and turned away. 

He must have ordered something that made sense, because a few moments later the waiter walked away. Before Ty could attempt to draw Nick or Kelly into a conversation, Nick pulled Kelly’s hand off his cock, reluctantly. Without releasing Kelly’s hand, he tucked himself away and straightened his jeans.

“We’ll be right back, guys,” he said to Ty and Zane as he pulled Kelly up from the table and through the restaurant. He heard Ty snicker as they walked away. It took him a few moments, but he finally found a utility closet big enough for the two of them. He pushed the door open. 

Once they’d both stepped in the door, Kelly used Nick’s hold on his hand to spin them around. Kelly pushed him up against the, now closed, closet door. He held Nick there with his forearm pressed against Nick’s shoulder blades. Kelly chuckled darkly as he reached out and flicked the lock on the door.

Kelly dropped the arm from Nick’s shoulder blades and flattened his body against Nick’s back. Nick moaned. 

“What were you thinking bringing me out to lunch with two people you fucked in the past and then you flirt with our waiter? Tsk-tsk, Nicky.” Kelly rasped against Nick’s shoulder.

“I didn’t flirt with the waiter and I had no idea Zane would be here,” Nick explained.

“Hands on the door, Nicky.”

Nick shuddered and did as he was told. 

Kelly took a step back and smoothed his hands up and down Nick’s back and sides. Each pass sent waves of heat over his skin.

“Remember when we got our rings engraved? Yours reads, ‘Just you’ in my handwriting and you put ‘Mine’ in your handwriting on my ring?” Kelly gripped Nick’s hips and pulled him until Kelly’s erection dug into Nick’s ass. “That goes both ways, Nicky. You. Are. Mine.”

“Of course it goes both ways, Kels. You think I’d let anyone else handle me like this? You think either of them ever got to see this side of me? Fuck no.” Nick spun in Kelly’s hands. He leaned back against the door and fisted Kelly’s shirt, pulling him close. “We belong to each other, remember?”

He didn’t wait for an answer before working his fingers into Kelly’s hair and capturing his mouth in a brutal, possessive kiss.  

Kelly moaned against his mouth and clutched at his body. 

Nick groaned.

What he’d said wasn’t just lip-service told to a jealous lover either, he’d meant every word. No one had ever made Nick come alive like Kelly. There was no one in the world he trusted as much as him either. He was extraordinarily thankful no one had warned him in the past what the man in his arms would come to mean to him. Young Nick would have run for the hills, in the opposite direction of the best thing to ever happen to him.

Kelly’s deft fingers made quick work of the button and zipper on Nick’s jeans. 

Nick moaned as he tore his mouth away from Kelly’s. “What are you doing? We’re in the middle of a restaurant.”

Kelly snorted. “No, when I was jerking you off at the table, t _hat_ was in the middle of the restaurant. This is a utility closet, totally different.” 

Before Nick could argue, Kelly dropped to his knees with an audible thud and swallowed Nick’s cock.

“Holy fucking shit, Kels,” Nick groaned.

Nick let his head fall back against the door. One of his hands fell to rest on top of Kelly’s head, his hips rolled in precision with the up-down bobbing of Kelly’s mouth.

Kelly pulled off his cock and Nick whimpered as he looked down to see why. Kelly smirked at him as he stuck two fingers in his mouth. 

Nick gasped and nodded. 

Kelly pulled the fingers from his mouth with a wet, sloppy, popping sound. With his other hand, he tugged Nick’s jeans and boxers down to his calves. He sucked Nick’s cock down at the same moment he started working a finger into Nick’s ass.

Nick cried out.

His hands dropped down to fist Kelly’s hair. They worked into a rhythm. Kelly’s fingers would press all the way in at the same time Kelly’s mouth swallowed Nick down. Each thrust of dueling sensation wound Nick tighter and tighter. He’d lost track of whether he was making noise, he barely paid attention to whether he was even breathing.

All that mattered was Kelly’s mouth and the wicked things his fingers were doing to Nick’s ass.

Nick came with a gasp that quickly transformed to a drawn-out, low moan. Kelly hummed around his cock as he swallowed every last drop of Nick’s pleasure. 

When Nick came out of his daze he saw that Kelly had straightened his clothes and was using some wet wipes stored in the utility closet to clean up.

“What about you?” Nick asked in a rough voice.

Kelly smiled at him as he tossed the wet wipe in a trash can. “You’ll get me later. I just wanted to remind you of you who belong to.”

Nick wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged him close. “I don’t think I could ever forget, but you can remind me anytime,” he murmured against Kelly’s lips before claiming his mouth.

Kelly drug his teeth along Nick’s bottom lip. “We should probably get back out there. I’m sure Ty is about to stage a revolt.”

Nick snorted and nuzzled Kelly’s neck. “I’m sure you’re right.

When they returned to the table their food had already arrived. Zane laughed at them around his fork. Ty rolled his eyes when he saw them. They took their seats and Kelly took a sip of his drink.

“Yeah, wash your mouth out real good, Doc,” Ty growled.

Nick glared at Ty, but before he could yell at him Kelly spoke. “You’re just jealous that Zane didn’t drag you off to a utility closet.”

“Kelly!” Nick scolded.

Zane snickered. “Someone had to watch the table.”

Nick shook his head. “Nope, I refuse to be a part of this conversation.” He dug into his food and avoided Ty’s glare.

A few minutes later Zane stood up and grabbed Ty’s arm. “We’ll be right back.”

Ty flailed in Zane’s grip as Zane drug him away. “Let me go, damnit.”

Nick snorted.

“They seem good for each other,” Kelly mused as he dug into his pasta. 

“Yeah, they really do. Zane doesn’t take any of his shit.”

Kelly giggled. “No, he really doesn’t. It’s pretty hilarious.”

They fell into casual conversation and enjoyed their meal in private. Fifteen minutes passed by the time Ty and Zane returned.

Zane’s lips were a little swollen, but he generally looked just as put together as he had before leaving the table. Ty, on the other hand, was a different story altogether. His dark hair was mussed. The blue shirt he was wearing was missing a few buttons and looked rumpled. He was also blushing profusely. 

Nick chuckled.

Kelly opened his mouth to comment, but was cut off by Ty pointing at him. “You shut your fucking mouth, Abbott.” Zane lost it at that point. He covered his mouth and doubled over laughing. Ty pinched the bridge of his nose and sank down into his chair. “We need to get the check, right the fuck now, before someone calls the cops. I hate all of you.”

Zane laid a hand on Ty’s shoulder and stopped laughing long enough to say, “Love you too, baby. I’ll go settle our bill.”

Ty dropped his hand and watched Zane walk through the restaurant. 

Nick smiled. Elias had told him how Ty looked at his partner, like someone had gifted Ty with all of life’s secrets in the form of the dark-haired, dark-eyed man. It was sweet.

“You’re good together, Ty,” Nick said suddenly. “I’m really happy for you both. We’re both happy for you.”

Ty looked at him warily for a moment, before smiling shyly and nodding. “He’s good to me and I hope I can be even a fraction as good to him.”

“So, when are you popping the question? How are you gonna do it?” Kelly asked, practically bouncing in his seat.

Ty snorted. “Well, I won’t be doing it the way you did, Doc. I’m surprised Irish didn’t run for the hills after that stunt.” He shook his head and played with a sugar packet. “I haven’t decided exactly when I’ll do it yet. I have the rings at home, but I’ve been so nervous about you guys meeting him that I hadn’t really thought that far yet. I’ll probably blurt it out while we’re getting shot at or something. That seems to be the way we do things.”

They laughed and turned to more casual conversation topics after that. None of them wanted to spoil the engagement surprise for Zane or Ty.

When Zane returned from paying the bill, they all tossed a few bills on the table as a tip, and to apologize for fucking in their utility closet. Nick hoped Ty and Zane weren’t actually that fond of this restaurant, because all the staff looked like they wanted to kill them.

Nick laughed as he held the restaurant door open and waved the others outside. 

Ty grinned as he slid on his trademark pair of aviators and grabbed Zane's hand, guiding him out the door. He seemed lighter than he had when they'd arrived for lunch. Nick was grateful that the two men had found each other, they both deserved the happiness they obviously shared together.

Kelly slapping his ass, as he scooted past Nick out the restaurant door, pulled Nick from his thoughts.

He let the door fall shut behind him as he chased Kelly down the sidewalk. When he finally reached Kelly's side, they were both out of breath from playing cat and mouse with each other for the last three blocks.

Nick slung an arm around Kelly's shoulders and pulled him closer for a kiss. Ty and Zane caught up with them a couple minutes later. Ty snorted, and made a comment under his breath, about children playing grab-ass.

Nick couldn't be bothered to care, though. In that moment, he was truly happy.

They continued down the street, with Ty and Zane taking the lead. Nick kept his arm around Kelly's shoulders and Kelly had an arm wrapped around Nick's waist. Every few minutes, as they stopped to chat, or look in shop windows, Nick found himself tracing the ring on Kelly's hand with his thumb.

Happy didn't even begin to cover it.


End file.
